Savage
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: Savage...brute...mercenary. These are but a few of the names applied to krogan. And with one such krogan becoming part of Shepard's team, Kelly Chambers discovered these terms were quite accurate.


**Savage**

"Wait a minute...we brought a _krogan _onboard?"

In one sense, that was a stupid question and administrator/yeomen Kelly Chambers knew it. For starters, not only could she see the krogan with her own eyes, from tanned skin to polish armour, but said krogan was almost certainly within earshot. On the other hand, the fact that the krogan had just walked through the halls of the _Normandy _by her necessitated such a question. She was seeing what she knew to be true, but _how _this was true was another matter entirely.

"Yeah...I'm here," growled the krogan, unfortunately being the one to answer her question rather than the rest of the ship's crew, all of whom suddenly had pressing engagements. "Is there a problem miss..."

"Chambers. Kelly Chambers," answered the yeomen, putting off pressing engagements of her own. "And you are-..."  
"Grunt," he grunted, living up to his name.

The Cerberus officer hoped the conversation would end then and there. It was clear that in some warped, twisted way, this..._savage _was meant to be here, for whatever reason. And while she wanted the reason, it would be much safer to get it from Commander Shepard then from an alien who could break her neck with one hand. Unfortunately, the krogan seemed to be the talkative type.

"And yeah, I'm joining Shepard..." Grunt growled, as if daring the cowering human to challenge him on the subject.

"Oh...really?" Kelly asked meekly, trying to walk the line between respect and authority. "And why would that be?"

The warrior shrugged. "He's a kindred spirit. Acts on his impulses, trusts his instincts...I like that."

"Yeah...I bet you do."

It was a calculated insult and provoked just the right amount of antagonism. On one hand, Kelly knew she was safe from having her face reduced to a piece of meat by one of the krogan's firearms. On the other, she'd made her position clear-this Grunt was an alien. And while the ends justified the means in regards to Cerberus's mission to save humanity, that still didn't mean that Grunt was a true ally. He was an alien-a lower being who would someday find his place below the rightful rulers of the galaxy and with any luck, join his race in their inevitable extinction. After stopping the Collectors of course.

"You're right, kind of..." said Grunt slowly, bringing his reptilian face close to the officer's mammalian one. "Though unlike Shepard, I'm just here to kill."

Kelly gulped. Could krogan read minds? If so, she was well and truly screwed.

"But don't worry about it," declared the warrior, 'patting' the yeomen on the shoulder and nearly breaking it in the process. "If Shepard tells me to kill, I'm gonna kill. If he tells me to fire, I'm gonna fire. If he tells me to stop, I'm gonna stop...eventually." He let out a throaty chuckle, his eyes narrowing as if ordering Kelly to wonder how much time would pass between the order and the action, and whether such an order would be given in regards to her. Certainly that was the end result at least, her other engagements suddenly becoming far more pressing.

"I...see..." said the yeomen slowly, moving away from the krogan at a similar rate. "Well, it's been talking to you Grunt. I look forward to seeing allies such as yourself in action."

"Oh I'm no ally," said the savage simply. "I know about Shepard's mission, but I'm not doing it for humans. I'm just doing this for a good fight. And, well, if the commander can't provide one..." He trailed off, stomping away as if to move with his words. And while the krogan was heading in one direction, his words were travelling in the opposite direction, hitting a certain human whose bladder had suddenly become a bit tight.

Kelly was able to hold it in however-for once, walking took her mind off things and as she was walking in the opposite direction from the krogan, she could be slightly more at ease. And considering the call she was putting in to the armoury, that level of ease was about to increase.

"Taylor here," came the voice of the e-marine.

"Hey Taylor, it's Kelly," said the yeomen. "Listen, I was wondering if you could do me a favour."

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"A...sidearm," murmured the Cerberus officer. "Something for self protection."

* * *

_A/N_

_Continuing the trend I began with Subject Zero, I adapted Grunt's cinematic trailer to dialogue format. By way of shameless plugging, I gave Miranda the same treatment._


End file.
